TESTIMONIALS

WHY WE COACH SPORT?

THIS IS WHY WE COACH…

 Dear John,

I hope this message finds you well.

I saw a ‘believing is achieving’ inspirational quote yesterday and my mind was immediately transported back to summer 1992. My friend Amanda and I were at the end of our first year at secondary school and had been booked onto your ‘Clubb Soccer’ course. We spent our lunchtimes catching up on Leeds United performances you’d missed from being in America and the days playing Bernie Burger and learning how to Maradona Moonwalk and Cruyff turn. I felt compelled to see whether you were on LinkedIn to share this memory with you, as I wanted to say how a chance summer camp with you working to share your passion with children may have seemed so small but had an enormous butterfly effect. It’s always good to hear good things so I hope this message lifts your day as you realize what a difference educators make to the next generation of educators and students - thank you!

Key points are:

- nearly 30 years later, the mug I got on your course is still at my Mum’s, as the message printed on there was the mantra she imparted on me as I was growing up.

- I’ve largely lost touch with Amanda, but we often reconnect on Facebook on Madonna’s birthday as the photo of us at the end of course fancy dress competition pops up in our ‘Memories’. (She was a wholesome member of KrissKross. I was a conical boobed, blonde wigged, suspender wearing Madonna. I won, but I was 12; safeguarding didn’t exist in 1992 🤣🤣🤣)

- I became OBSESSED with Gary Speed and all things Leeds. I got to meet the great man a few times before his devastating passing, and he’d always take time to chat and even remembered my name. I still have Leeds merchandise and spent happy times being taken under the wing of Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister when they’d come to Wimbledon games at Selhurst Park, including them smuggling me into the away changing room to sniff Gary Speed’s clothes.

- My now 21 year old son’s dad is called Lee and from Halesowen - it was a massive attraction that I could mysteriously drop that fact I was seeing a guy from Lee from Halesowen so people could say “gasp, not Leeds player Lee Sharp?!” In reality, only one person ever made the connection, but by that time I was smitten. Randomly, ‘my’ Lee worked with ‘the’ Lee’s cousin at the time so that was embarrassing.

- Before becoming an Assistant Principal I taught a lot more PE and even now, on the occasions I get to get my tracksuit on, I still use (read steal) your drills. I can still do a couple of the tricks and it fools the kids into thinking this 42 year old, overweight, one-kneed AP is decent at football.

- As a teacher and now as Assistant Principal, I also adopt (again, read steal) your ethos of believing and achieving going hand in hand. There was a woman who worked with my Mum who realised I used to teach her years ago and this is something that stuck with her.

I hope this has made you smile and again, thank you for making a difference that still is having a huge ripple effect.

 Kindest regards,

 Angela.

“John is passionate about helping players to learn, achieve and execute their mental goals .

We had him present to our team of u16 boys soccer team about mental skills and team building. The boys loved his kind, approachable manner..... and he is funny too. His experience and knowledge in competitive sport shined though . The boys were so engaged. They loved the talks on controlling emotion and setting personal goals.

We would highly recommend John and give him 5 stars out of 5 !!“

Calgary Rangers U16 boys team manager

“John’s willingness to conduct sessions allowed me valuable opportunities to observe and enhance my coaching skills . He also provided mental skills sessions to my teams that supported my coaching. To this day, John remains a source of support and I credit a significant part of my coaching identity to his invaluable influence.”

Victoria (Coach)

“I highly recommend John to anyone as a mental performance coach. John is never shy to give a straight answer and meaningful advice, that has improved my mindset. He has helped me battle mental obstacles and the advice he has passed along has helped me both as a player and person”

Alec (player)